Today we’d like to introduce you to Casey Conroy.
Casey, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My dad is an extremely talented musician and songwriter and my love for music completely stemmed from his. I remember being four and singing along to tracks in his studio. We would sing together at the piano, record covers of old Irish folk songs and listen to all his favorite records. So, pretty much music was always the most natural thing I knew how to do.
It was around 12 years old, when I taught myself piano and started songwriting on my own, that I really grew in my passion and started to realize that this might be something I want to do forever. When I started getting into the industry at around 15, I realized very fast that as a young female artist everyone wanted to fit me into a box and shape me the way they wanted and it just never worked for me. I had strong ideas about who I was and who I wanted to be and wanted the space to express all of it for myself. So, since then, I’ve been building my own career, on my own, fan by fan.
For the past two years or so now, I have been incredibly lucky to find my creative collaborator and manager Willy Colon and the two of us do pretty much create everything you see: the music, the live shows, the creative direction, the marketing, etc. A year ago, I released my first single and we’ve been doing everything we can to bring my music to as many people as possible. A lot of days, it’s super trying, but I’m so passionate and really believe if I build a career through authentic relationship and have patience, I can sustain a long career.
Has it been a smooth road?
Not at all, it’s a lot of learning by failure…
When I was younger, I actually struggled with extreme stage fright. I was so passionate about pursuing a musical career though I worked really hard for about two years to overcome it. I played as much as I could, wherever I could and that was a really scary process.
Probably, the next challenge was the decision to come out of college. I worked really hard in school and had great opportunities graduating that would have given me a lot of safe “plan b”s but I just knew I’d truly never be happy doing anything else. I came out of college to work to fund my project and to have 200% percent focus. There are still days where I get scared that maybe I made the wrong decision, especially now watching a lot of my friends graduating but I believe with all my heart I made the best decision for me that will pay off in the end.
In the end, it’s all about not giving up or losing faith. This is my 5th single and it’s the first one to get real traction so it’s all about consistency.
Please tell us more about what you do, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I always tell people “I’m an artist because I love songwriting, I just really want to sing my own songs,” lol. I want to build an artist brand that allows me to have flexibility in creating. I am constantly inspired by new surroundings that change the way my music sounds or feels so I don’t want to be limited by one genre, I love flirting with the line. I am most proud that I think I’m finding a way to do so while maintaining consistency through my vocals and songwriting style. Billie Eilish has been one of my biggest inspirations lately because she’s one of the first artists I feel the industry is really praising as someone you can’t really put your finger on and it’s starting a movement.
The thing I hope always sets me apart is that I want to stand for realness: be honest about the process and only make music that really comes from my heart.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I think the music industry is going in an incredible direction. Artists are becoming more and more independent and breaking standards every day. They are proving that you can do anything you want, if you believe in it enough and make others believe in it too. I also love the rise of the playlist culture and am interested to see how that keeps growing and changing the way music listening and discovery works.
Contact Info:
- Website: iamcaseyconroy.com
- Email: info@iamcaseyconroy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamcaseyconroy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamcaseyconroy/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/IAmCaseyConroy
Image Credit:
Personal Photo: Dave Givens, Eliani Miranda, Shakira Nae, Dave Givens
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